A new Conservative government will create a national corridor to carry Canadian energy and resources from coast to coast, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer announced on Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta.
“It’s time for a government that understands we’re in this together, that Canada works better when we work together,” Scheer said. “A new National Energy Corridor will create jobs and opportunities while uniting Canadians in our shared potential and prosperity.”
A National Energy Corridor will generate economic and social benefits for the entire country by moving oil, gas, hydroelectricity, telecommunications, and potentially accommodating other linear infrastructure. With a single corridor, industry wouldn’t need to submit complicated proposals for every new project.
A single coast-to-coast corridor would:
- minimize environmental impacts
- lower the costs of environmental assessments without sacrificing quality
- increase certainty for investors
- get critical projects built
- and create good-paying jobs.
A new Conservative government will appoint a blue-ribbon task force to provide recommendations within six months of its establishment on how to proceed. The government would then begin to work with the provinces and Indigenous peoples – who would both share in the prosperity this project would provide – to realize this vital coast-to-coast link.
“As Canadians, we need to start dreaming big again, and we need to start dreaming together,” said Scheer. “We need to start building a stronger, more united country worthy of those who came before us and that our children and grandchildren deserve.”